Free at Last

After seeing the previews for this week's Ugly Betty, I didn't think I would enjoy it nearly as much as I did. The clips of Betty acting "crazy" and Ignacio thinking she was pregnant seemed a bit cringe worthy. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely it played out.

To start with, America Ferrera did a fantastic job at becoming unhinged. I think that because she has been playing the same character for almost two seasons it is easy to forget that she does such a good job at it. When she gave a hysterical performance playing a drugged Betty, I was reminded of her talents. There were so many points where I was laughing out loud - her singing in the kitchen, her jumping on Henry in the elevator, and her complimenting Amanda's "sparkly" shirt. This also gave a Betty a chance to interact more with Gio. I know I just said last week that I was glad Betty and Henry are together. And I still stand by that. But America Ferrera has a lot more chemistry with Freddy Rodriguez than she does with Christopher Gorham. A lot of the appeal of Betty/Henry last season was the "will they won't they" factor. As what often happens, once they are together it gets a little boring. But Betty and Gio are at a more argumentative stage, and it is more fun to watch - and since my feeling about Ugly Betty is that it is all about fun, this is a strong factor.

This was all going on in the background of Claire's trial for Faye's murder. I have to say, that I love the way the this played out. I assumed that they would have Claire found guilty, mostly because it keeps the angst alive. But her being found not-guilty gives Judith Light a chance to have more storylines, she has done brilliant work in the past, so this is a definite plus. I also liked the twist that Claire only killed Faye because Faye had poisoned her perfume. It added to mythology that Faye was essentially a bitch and made Claire seem less cold-hearted. It was a little unrealistic the way the trial ended - hidden diary pages and poisoned perfume show up in court and there is a not-guilty verdict that day? Not very likely. But it let Amanda and Marc have a stake in the trial, and was a way to wrap up the storyline quickly. And again, it was definitely fun.

I'll talk more about the Christina as Whilemina's surrogate next week, since it seems like that story will really play out then. I love the idea, and think it holds a lot of promise for great storylines. I knew Christina would eventually end up being the surrogate, so it was a little tiresome to see the red herrings about other ways to raise money for her husband's surgery. For that matter, it is a little contrived to have Christina's husband show up out of the blue needing surgery. But, if that is what is needed to start the story going, I am okay with it. I'm glad to see that Betty already knows what is happening and is being supportive. We already had the plot where Betty found out about Christina helping Whilemina, and I didn't want to repeat it. It also shows how Betty has grown as a character, which I liked - a lot of shows aren't able to do that. But I have a feeling everything will be shot to hell when it is revealed who the father of Whilemina's baby is. Personally, I can't wait.